The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant botanically known as Verbena hybrid and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balfireape’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Arroyo Grande, Calif. during April 2013. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Verbena cultivars that are suited for use in hanging baskets, durable to environmental stresses, and have a mounded-spreading growth habit.
The new Verbena cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Verbena hybrid breeding selection coded 8614-1 not patented, characterized by its light purple-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and vigorous, semi-upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Verbena hybrid breeding selection coded PV-1033 not patented, characterized by its light purple-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and vigorous, semi-upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during May 2014 in a controlled environment in Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since May 2014 in Arroyo Grande, Calif., and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.